Left in pots (Question: Should the compost in the pots be dry or moist?)
@msquingxiao I just let the dahlias get blackened after frost. Then I cover with an old plastic compost bag to keep the rain off and I wrap in old fleece. I pack the fleece away and have used the same lot for years. I've not lost any dahlias this way, though last year I lost a few "sausages" on individual tubers. The new shoots come up in April/May. Just keep having a peep under the bag if the weather gets warm. Any white shoots green up pretty quickly. If the shoots put on growth before the last frosts, keep the fleece to hand and keep an eye on the night temps.
I mostly use the newspaper system, as leaving them in the ground would mean waving goodbye to them here, as it's far too cold and wet.
If you have free draining soil and mild winters without too much rain you should be ok, but the new shoots will be decimated by slugs and snails as soon as they appear above ground, so be ready for that.
The news-wrapped ones live in a spare room, stored in banana trays. They are left dry over winter, but very small tubers can sometimes shrivel up completely, so I usually leave those in small pots and keep them almost, but not quite dry. When spring approaches I watch out for the first signs of shoots and then pot them up and begin careful watering. I keep them indoors until they are growing strongly and then move them to the greenhouse, but it is too cold in there to get them started early, as it is only kept frost-free. They can't go out here until June, and having decent size plants to put out means they have more chance of surviving the onslaught of the molluscs
If left in the ground I find slugs and snails attack the shoots before you even know there are shoots.
I have dug them up before the frosts with no ill effects so I reckon you’ll be fine. If you have lots, the last thing you want is to be running around frantically digging them all up at the last minute.
Last year, I left some of mine in pots outdoors. I covered the top with bubble wrap to stop the rain getting in, moved them against the house wall, and they all survived. Considering I live in a South Wales Valley, I think that shows they’re tougher than is generally thought. I took them out of the pots in spring, repotted them and put them in the greenhouse to start them off.
The rest I dig up, clean and place in a plastic veg crate with a bit of fleece over them which seems to do the job ok. However, I do like the idea of using bags for life.
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